Destiny Awakens (Spyro Series - Book 1)
by RidleyNecrowolfe
Summary: For a while, things were peaceful. The world forgot about the Dark Master's rein of terror, and the sun shined brighter then it had in years. But Spyro and Cynder's quiet new life is shattered as dark forces gather, and threats brew among Warfang's own citizens. Friends are lost, enemies are made, and a villain more powerful and dangerous than anyone has ever seen before rises.
1. Prologue

Cynder lazily blinked her emerald eyes open, sighing sleepily.

She lay comfortably in a large bed, snuggled up to Spyro, who was still in deep sleep. The purple dragon barely stirred as Cynder crawled out from under his wing and stepped onto the cold floor.

Quietly, she slipped out their bedroom door, leaving it unlatched but closed over. She then strolled across the walkway, stretching her wings as she walked.

It was very early in the morning, the moon only beginning its slow descent. It wasn't unusual for her to be up this early, it had become somewhat of a habit.

She walked to her usual spot, a small balcony at the half way point of the walkway, and sighed quietly.

Part of her was still in disbelief at how her life now was, such a dramatic change from years ago.

Before she was alone, lost and misguided. She was turned into a heartless monster, and acted as such.

There were many things she had done that haunted her to this day. She wished desperately that she could change what she had done.

But she had come to peace, knowing that doing good would make up for her years of evil. Spyro helped her move past her dark years and become the happy young dragoness she was.

Across the realm, a lone dragon watched the skies thoughtfully. He hadn't seen the stars so bright for years. When the Dark Master ruled the realm, the skies were always gloomy and cloudy, and in his absence they were now clear, allowing the moonlight to once again illuminate the land.

He sighed softly, remembering he had a job to do, an important one at that. The ruins of the Dragon Temple, leftover from the Dark Master's rule, were used to store and contain powerful artifacts.

Many of them were small, seemingly everyday objects, but all held a dangerous amount of power, and could easily cause serious damage in the wrongs hands.

The ruins were the safest place for them to be kept and guarded during Malefor's rule, but now that he was gone it was decided to move them to a vault in Warfang, where the new Temple was being constructed.

A small group of Dragons and a few Moles had been sent to pack up and transport the artifacts to their destination, and were in the middle of loading two large wooden wagons wit the power-charged objects.

On his way back to continue his work, the Dragon noticed an unfamiliar Dragoness wondering the halls as well. She smiled awkwardly when she saw him, seeming to know she had no business being there.

The moonlight shimmered on her ruby red scales, her crimson eyes met his as she chuckled softly.

"Sorry, I think I'm a bit lost." She said. For a moment, her eyes seemed to emanate a dim red glow.

"No trouble." The Dragon replied kindly, "Were you heading to Warfang?" he asked.

"Yeah, how'd you guess?" the Red Dragoness answered with a smile.

H

"That's where everyone's going. Word's gotten around I guess..." he replied, noticing again a dim glow in her eyes.

At the same time, a slight headache came over him, accompanied by a dizzying feeling. He tried to speak, but found he was unable to.

The Dragoness didn't react to his change in behavior, but stood watching in silence for a moment before speaking again.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it isn't wise to wonder through the dark alone?" she said cryptically as she slowly crept up to him.

Every instinct he had was fighting to move him, but he remained standing still, like he was frozen in place. The headache spread and intensified, as he tried desperately to utter the smallest of words, to no avail.

"Don't fight it dear," she whispered, "It'll only make it worse for you."

His vision became a blur as she approached him. He gasped and groaned in his attempts to cry for help.

The dragoness reached up and gently stroked the side of his face, almost feeling sorry for him. Almost.

The dragon's suffering finally ended with a sharp pain in his chest, as she stabbed him with a dagger and allowed him to collapse.

She then twirled her dagger in her paw as she stepped over her victim and continued down the hallway, soon coming to a small room where two Dragons and a mole were packing up a crate.

No sooner than the Dragons turned and noticed her, the shadows cast on the marble floor shifted, lunging into two spikes that stabbed the dragons, disappearing as they fell limp.

The mole made a run for the exit, not getting far before the dragoness threw her dagger at him, the blade piercing his neck.

As she retrieved her weapon, a jet-black dragon emerged from the shadows, walking to the middle of the room.

"You're late." The Dragoness said to him.

"You left early." He replied, peering into the crate that was being packed.

"Think it's still here?" The Dragoness questioned, investigating the shelves of strange objects.

"It has to be. Everything else is." He answered, scanning the room.

The Dragoness watched the night sky while the Dragon searched the room, turning up with nothing of true value.

Soon, the moonlight that had illuminated the room faded away, leaving them in pitch darkness. An airborne Ship hovered over the ruins, the Dragoness looking to her partner.

"Time to go. They're here." She said seriously.

The Dragon sighed in frustration. "Damned vultures..." he muttered. "Let's go, it's not here anyway."

He turned and left, the Dragoness turning to follow. She stopped when she noticed a round crystal, slightly bigger than her paw, tucked in the corner.

She quickly picked it up and followed the Dragon, unaware of the power that surged through her new-found possession.


	2. A New Beginning

Spyro stirred softly, fully awoken by Cynder whispering softly to him.

"How long are you planning on sleeping?" she asked, standing on the Purple Dragon's back.

"About a month, at the least." Spyro replied groggily, keeping his eyes closed.

"Ok, I'll go tell the Orcs to behave themselves until then." Cynder replied teasingly.

Spyro sighed softly. "How about 10 more minutes?" he negotiated, bringing his wing up to cover his face.

Cynder thought for a moment. "But I can't wait 10 minutes."

Spyro poked his head out and looked up at Cynder, blinking the sleep away from his purple eyes.

"Wait? For what?" he asked.

Cynder seized the opportunity and pulled the tired Dragon into a kiss. Spyro smiled, the want for sleep melting away as he kissed her back.

At that moment the door swung open, as Flame entered the room.

The red dragon stopped instantly, realizing he was interrupting the two lovers.

He cleared his throat awkwardly as they looked over at him.

"The... Uh... Guardians want to see you two." he reported, nodding as an apology before leaving the room.

Spyro sighed and looked up at Cynder. "Duty calls." he said as he clumsily crawled off the bed and stretched.

* * *

Warfang had sustained heavy damage in the attacks from the Golem and Malefor's Army.

Now it was almost completely rebuilt, and had become a sanctuary of sorts, drawing in survivors from the Dark Master's rein.

Spyro still marveled at the City's growth. It had almost doubled in population, with all sorts of races collecting together.

Moles and humans, among many others, joined the dragons in creating a thriving colony.

Due to the architecture being designed for dragons, the city was still spacious, even with the dramatic increase in population.

Staircases and housing had been added for smaller races, and buildings were repaired, some even expanded.

Near the center of the city, a larger building was used as a Training Center, in other words School of sorts, for dragons.

Spyro and Cynder had been helping the Instructors train some of the students, as well as taking separate classes with Cyril and Kallia, arguably the best instructor in Warfang.

In front of the building, two familiar dragons lay in the grass on opposite sides of a chess board, a few others watching the intense game.

Ember took careful consideration before moving one of her few remaining pieces.

Her opponent, an ice dragon by the name of Blaze, captured her piece despite her efforts.

Spyro chuckled as he and Cynder approached the scene.

"Anyone manage to beat him yet?" He questioned, examining the in-progress game.

Suki, a wind dragoness, sighed in frustration.

"He's been mopping the floor with us all morning..." She said, as Ember carefully considered her next move.

She gingerly slid one of her pieces across the board, as if it could explode at any moment.

Blaze moved a single piece across the board and cornered Ember's king, winning another game as the spectators groaned in disbelief.

"Maybe some day I'll challenge you to a game." Spyro said with a chuckle.

Blaze smiled and stood up, nodding to Cynder.

He was an odd dragon, mostly because he couldn't speak. No one knows for sure why, whether it's a birth defect or childhood injury, he hasn't said.

No matter the cause, he's had to find alternate means of communication, Cynder being the best at understanding him.

Being a bit of an odd dragon herself, she and Blaze got along almost immediately, and have since grown to be close friends.

"Have you been working on your balance like I said?" She questioned, returning his smile with her own.

He nodded confidently, as a tall silver dragoness stepped out of the school.

"Alright you Gremlins, go start practicing, you can shatter your friends' board game egos later." She called out to the group.

The students obediently packed up their board game and filed into the school as Cynder and Spyro continued on their way.

* * *

The red dragoness twirled the crystal in her claws, examining it curiously.

"If a shiny crystal is all it takes to get your attention, I should have found one a long time ago." An earth dragon said teasingly as he walked up behind her.

"It would take a lot more than that, " She replied, "For you anyway."

The dragon chuckled sarcastically. "The rest of us are having a kind of important discussion, if you'd like to join us."

As he turned and walked away, the dragoness tucked the crystal into her dagger sheath, strapped around her shoulders just above her wings.

After a brief glance out at the barren land from the cliff she sat on, she turned and followed the dragon a couple yards back to a small camp.

A pine green dragoness rolled her eyes in annoyance upon seeing them. "Finally decided to pay attention, Maziken?"

The red dragoness, named Maziken, smirked at the comment. "What's the matter Ashera? Still don't like me?"

"Sorry, was that not obvious to you?" The green dragoness retorted.

Maziken ignored the comment, taking her place in the group of six young dragons.

Everyone stood, sat, or in Maziken's case, lay quite lazily, in a circle around their fire pit as Kade, the earth dragon, spoke.

"Now, with the Defence Force growing and the Sky Pirates getting more active, we have a problem."

He looked around at his followers as he continued, "The Dark Master is dead, his army is shrinking by the thousands, simply put our domain is disappearing, fast."

"So what are you suggesting we do about that?" Maziken questioned.

"Not much we can do, not many places we can go, except..."

"No." Ashera interrupted him, knowing what he was thinking. "Kade, we've avoided that place for a reason."

"I know, " Kade continued, "But we don't have much of a choice. Besides, they'll be focused on defending against Orcs and Grublins, they won't be expecting us."

"I don't know," Dreydon, the shadow dragon, replied, taking little time to think before responding. "I'm no expert, but I don't think six dragons could overthrow a whole city. Especially with the Guardians still hanging around."

"Not to mention the Purple Dragon, and his followers." Tytus, an electric dragon, chimed in.

"Didn't think you scared so easily Ty." Kade responded.

"There's a big difference between fear and caution." Dreydon responded, "But the Purple Dragon won't be an issue. Maze and I could handle him."

Kade pondered this for a moment, before looking to the last member of the group, a younger earth dragon.

"What do you think Tekkoa?"

Tekkoa looked up. "It's a risk... A big one." He said softly, "But staying out here is a bigger risk."

Kade smiled, looking back to the group. "Then it's settled. We're heading to Warfang."


	3. Blackhill

"So you've never even gotten the least bit curious?"

"We've been tasked to ensure no creature ever enters the crypt, what more do you need to know?"

"You mean to tell me that you've spent the last few decades guarding a crypt, without even knowing what it is that's so important, and your perfectly fine with that?"

"Exactly."

The young dragon stared at his older coworker in genuine question.

"You, my friend, are starting to lose it..." he muttered in disbelief of the response he got.

The old dragon chuckled, "The highest form of loyalty is trust. I trust, that if Terrador has chosen to withhold from me the knowledge of what exactly it is that I'm guarding, it is for a good reason."

He shifted his weight, shoulder growing sore from leaning on the wall for so long. "Besides, what would I gain from knowing what lies within the crypt? I would still be guarding it with just as much dedication as I am now. So what would I gain from knowing what it is?"

The younger dragon sighed and looked to the ground, "You know, I hate it when you pull the 'wise elder' trick and try to help me be a better person..."

"It's a terrible burden to bear, but I suffer through it." the old dragon replied with a chuckle.

The doors to said crypt creaked open, Terrador walking through as they slowly drifted closed. The two dragons respectfully turned their attention to him.

"Everything as it should be?" the old dragon questioned.

Terrador simply sighed, "I'm afraid my visits will become more frequent. Something is not right, and I hate not knowing what..."

He looked to the younger dragon, "It is almost midday, go and take a break, get something to eat."

The younger dragon nodded, looking to his coworker, "I'll be back for the next shift." he said, before turning and taking flight.

* * *

The Town of Blackhill was a ghost town for nearly a century, until survivors of Malefor's rein began inhabiting it. The large number of sheep around the land, as well as it's close range to a large river made it a very useful source of resources for Warfang.

Adrec soon arrived at the town, as it was a short distance from the Crypt. He and Othu, a close friend of his, shared two guard shifts at the crypt. There was a designated group of dragons that shared the task of protecting the crypt from intruders, though no one ever went inside except Terrador, who had assigned the task in the first place.

In addition to around-the-clock guarding, the crypt had an enchanted lock, one that could only be opened by a dragon, as to ward off any remnants of Malefor's army that might come snooping.

No one knew for sure what was in the crypt that had to be so well protected at all times, but it had to be something very important. Terrador seemed anxious whenever he entered the crypt, as if expecting to find the item missing or damaged.

Curious as they were, no one ever entered the crypt. Adrec had to admit, Othu was right. Terrador had to have his reasons for keeping the contents of the crypt a secret.

As curious as he was, he respected Terrador, as many did, and respected his instructions.

As he entered the small town, he passed by a rickety wooden stand that a tall dragoness used to carve up and sell fish caught from the river.

He swapped three skinny chunks of salmon for a few gold coins from his satchel and continued through the town as he devoured one of the cuts quite hungrily.

He and Othu shared the first shift of the day, which started just before sunlight bled into the sky.

As a result, he was both very tired and very hungry, and overzealous to crawl back into bed.

As he walked, he took off his helmet and stuffed it into his pack, along with his two sleek, steel bracers, which he had paused to unstrap and remove from each arm.

He then slung the pack over his shoulder and continued on his way, ducking under a long plank of oak wood being carried by two impatient dragons.

Rounding a corner, he was suddenly attacked by a ferocious, 3 year old youngling.

The tiny dragoness clung to Adrec's neck and pulled with all her might, but even with the momentum of her running jump, she succeeded only in slightly disturbing his walking pattern.

Adrec stumbled slightly at the sudden impact, chuckling as he regained balance and continued walking.

"Almost, but I'm still standing." He commented, looking down at the young dragoness.

"Getting closer!" She declared, climbing onto his back. "I'm almost a master of stealth." She added confidently.

"Then, you'll be able to cover for me on guard duty. I could use the extra nap time." Adrec replied, smirking playfully.

The youngling stood on her hind legs, placing her front paws on Adrec's neck for balance, and rested her head on his. "And maybe we can finally travel around the Realm, meet new people, fight the Monsters!"

"You think you could hold your own against an Orc?"

"No doubt! I could fight the whole horde at once!" The youngling proclaimed.

"Alrighty then, fisticuffs. If there's another attack, I guess I'll just hide behind you." Adrec teased.

The youngling giggled and climbed up, standing completely on Adrec's head, balancing carefully as she lay down lazily, front paws dangling on either side of Adrec's snout.

Niajjah was a bright, energetic young dragoness. Adrec was a close friend of her older sister, Danai, which made him a friend of her's too.

Despite her small size and very young age, she was eager to learn combat, having convinced Adrec to help her practice.

Everyday, when Adrec returned to Blackhill from the Crypt, Niajjah would attempt to ambush him, and though her stealth skills were making notable progress, her small size made it difficult to make successful attacks.

But her determination to learn never swayed.

* * *

Terrador gazed at the Crypt uneasily, deep in thought.

"Something troubles you?" Othu questioned, taking notice of the Guardian's expression.

"You remember the procedure I told you?" He answered, gaze unwavering.

"Yes." Othu answered, turning his gaze to the Crypt as well.

"Be ready to enact it. I fear we may soon need it." Terrador replied, finally breaking his stare by glancing at the ground briefly, before turning and taking flight.

Othu watched Terrador leave, then returned his attention to the Crypt. That place had always given him a feeling of dread, but now...

Now, he sensed that something horrible was about to happen.


	4. Travelers

One of the larger buildings in Warfang was in the process of being converted into a new Dragon Temple, with the original having been destroyed by the Dark Master.

This rigged, but functional, Temple was often used by the Guardians to host important meetings and discussions.

As Spyro and Cynder entered, Cyril and Volteer stood around a large round table, conversing with a lightly armored Human and a few Moles.

The conversation paused abruptly as the large doors noisily clunked open.

Seeing the two dragons had arrived, Volteer smiled and gestured them towards the group. The doors creaked closed on their own as Spyro and Cynder approached.

The table was tall and sturdy, nearly reaching Spyro's shoulders, and covered by a map of the Dragon Realm.

The human nodded kindly to them before resuming the conversation.

"As I was saying, the Orcs and Grublins have all gathered in this area," he explained, gesturing to a narrow peninsula on the map. "They haven't moved for days, doesn't appear they ever will."

Cyril examined the map, "But why? Why settle so far outside inhabited lands?"

"I think it best to launch a full scale attack, wipe them out while their all in one place and be done with them." the human suggested.

"What if that's exactly what they want us to do?" Cyril questioned, "They've backed into a corner so we can't ambush them, we'd have no choice but to go at them head on."

"We put together a strong enough attack plan, it's an easy victory." Volteer stated.

"It could work, but is it worth the risk?" Cyril asked seriously.

The doors clunked open once again, Terrador stepping through.

"The orcs are afraid." he announced as he took his place in the circle. it was obvious something troubled him.

He had been gone from Warfang for a couple days, yet walked in the room without even addressing that matter.

"Afraid?" Cyril echoed in an understandably confused tone. "Of what, us?"

"Not of us, no." Terrador answered simply. He then sighed and put his thoughts aside. "This conversation can wait, we have other matters to attend to."

He looked to Spyro and Cynder. "We've summoned these two at an early hour, the least we could do is tell them why."

Volteer spoke before anyone could question the old earth dragon. "Right, yes. Spyro, Cynder, as you may already know, we've been working towards a stable peace with the Shadow clan. Their leader, Varsak, will be arriving in Warfang soon to discuss these matters."

Spyro nodded attentively, having been caught in one of Cyril's many rants and therefore being aware of, and well-informed about this matter.

"At the same time," Volteer continued, "The Sisters of Eternal Night have sent one of their witches to Warfang, they say for urgent reasons."

"And while we'll be in negotiations with Varsak," He continued, "We'd ask you to meet with her, in the Marketplace."

"We trust you have the right experience to settle whatever issue the Sisters may have." Terrador added reassuringly.

"Of course, no problem." Spyro answered confidently.

Cyril sighed quietly "Tell me again why I can't deal with the Witch? I have plenty of experience with social problems."

Terrador chuckled lightly, "Because we'll require that experience to sway Varsak towards a peace treaty."

"But you know I can't stand that fool! He's so unnecessarily stubborn!" Cyril complained.

The doors suddenly swung open, knocking against the walls with a loud bang.

A brawny, charcoal black dragon strolled through the doors as they creaked closed once more.

"Being unnecessarily stubborn can have certain advantages." He retorted, looking right at Cyril.

He stopped after a few steps, spotting the two young dragons.

"Cynder, is it?" He inferenced, his stern, yellow eyes examining her for a moment before moving to the purple dragon.

"And of course, the legendary Spyro." He chuckled lightly to himself. "I had hoped I'd get to meet you two."

He bowed his head to them respectfully, then joined the circle.

"It's good to meet you too, Varsak." Spyro replied politely.

"Manners..." Varsak noted, "Not overly common amongst you young ones."

He looked to the Guardians, "Speaking of which, my daughter insisted on accompanying me here. She's always been the adventurous kind. We hadn't even walked through the front gates before she ran off on her own."

He looked back to Spyro and Cynder, "If either of you see her, could you direct her to the guest housing?"

"Yeah, Of course." Cynder answered.

* * *

It was highly unusual for Warfang to lay dormant. All throughout the day, even through the night, citizens and travelers made their way up and down the stone paths.

One dragon, however, didn't seem to have a destination in mind. Remaining still amongst a moving crowd, like a lone rock defying a stream, watching, waiting.

As Spyro and Cynder exited the building he had watched them enter, he silently observed them.

He watched as the two dragons spoke, and as they walked down the path, he followed from the cover of the crowd.

He matched their pace, but kept a few steps behind to avoid drawing their attention.

His focus shifted to Cynder, moments before she suddenly turned and looked in his direction.

He stopped short and ducked his head down, disappearing in the crowd.

* * *

"Cynder? What's wrong?" Spyro's voice broke Cynder's concentration.

She blinked away her momentary thoughts, looking back to the stone path in front of her.

"Nothing..." She answered, "Just thought I saw someone..."

Her mind briefly visited memories she hadn't thought of in a long time, memories she had buried and never expected to see again.

The face she thought she saw, a face she never thought she'd see again, one that used to haunt her dreams.

She shook off the memories, gazing up at the sky. From the position of the sun, she could tell it was already almost midday.

She and Spyro typically joined the Students around early morning. But their excursion the previous night caused them to sleep in much later then usual.

It was only then that she realized how late they really were.

"Hey, I think we've kept Kallia waiting long enough." She stated, looking back to Spyro "You think you can handle a witch on your own?"

"Gee, I don't know if I can..." Spyro teased, chuckling.

"Well if you make it out alive, hurry to the Training Center." Cynder replied through suppressed laughter.

"I'll go on ahead and get the Students started on sparring." She added, breaking from their path.


	5. What Lies Beneath

Adrec entered a small cottage, Niajjah leaping off him and landing on a bed tucked against the wall.

Danai, a slender ice dragoness, groaned sleepily as the bed wobbled from the impact.

"Morning." Adrec greeted her apologetically.

"I told you to wake me up when you left." She reminded him, lifting her head off the pillow.

"As late as you were up last night? I figured you needed to sleep at least a little past sunrise." He replied, dropping his pack on a second bed in the one room home.

"I just don't like Nia being awake by herself." Danai explained.

"She's not by herself." Adrec reassured, "the whole town knows her, everyone loves her."

"This morning I helped Regga catch fish from the river. We filled a whole bucket with Trout!" Niajjah excitedly reported.

Danai sighed, brushing off her worries and allowing herself to smile. She couldn't help smiling, seeing her little sister so happy.

Adrec had a point. Pretty much everyone in Blackhill, kids and adults alike, knew Nia by name.

The little, snow white dragoness was always cheery and kind-hearted, quickly able to befriend even the most reserved of people.

"I told her I'd come back as soon as you were awake..." Nia added, looking at her sister with innocent, pleading eyes.

"Fine... Go on." Danai answered, smiling. "But be back by nightfall, ok?"

Nia nodded happily and leapt from the bed, climbing up the wall and out the open window. Sliding down the outer wall, she started towards the river.

* * *

It was dark, and eerily quiet. The room was small, just big enough for a full grown dragon if he bowed his head. Slabs of smooth stone made up the ceiling and walls, the floor comprised of tiled marble.

The Crypt door led to a narrow spiral staircase, making a half-circle that stopped at the single, small room. The structure above ground was merely visual in function, concealing the room from prying eyes.

The room itself was almost empty, aside from a collection of crystals of varying colors and shapes that formed a circle around one, very large purple crystal.

It was dull in color, and as tall as Terrador himself. The reason this crypt was heavily monitored and guarded, the reason Terrador could hardly sleep at night anymore, was contained inside this unusual crystal.

For decades this crystal stood like a faded sculpture, keeping horrible memories alive and old scars fresh.

At a simple glance it revived great amounts of pain and fear in the minds of those who knew what it truly was.

This day, something was different about it. A small, barely noticeable crack appeared on the jagged surface a few days before.

By now, it had grown and deepened. An opening thin as a single strand of hair but deep enough to reach the hollow interior of the crystal.

A quiet, ethereal hissing filled the silence of the crypt. The day that Terrador had feared for most of his life, had arrived.

Shadows in the room shifted, moved. Slinking across the walls and floor, collecting in a corner of the room, spreading and pulsing as they merged into a solid mass, a black patch of swirling magic that grew to fill the whole corner.

The crack grew on the crystal, the sliver connecting the hollow interior to the outside world growing to visual size. Shadows poured out of the glassy purple structure, collecting on the floor.

It moved as a physical substance, but remained flat against the floor, untouchable by any physical means.

When the pool of shadows grew to fill the area of bare floor between the crystal and the circle of its smaller counterparts, it shifted and slithered towards the corner of dark magic, absorbing into the pulsating, swirling substance.

Outside the crypt, a similar but smaller patch of dark magic appeared in the grass, the shadows pouring out into the sunlight.

As the patch disbanded, the shadow split into four smaller shadows, gliding along the ground in different directions.

* * *

Nia trotted happily down the path, greeting everyone she passed with a chipper tone.

She had a knack for making just about any mundane activity into her own little adventure.

Even something as simple as walking across town became an epic, daring quest in her mind.

She climbed up a stack of crates, jumping up on a nearby roof, balancing carefully across a plank of wood to the next roof over, sliding down a plank resting against the building and skipping back to her original course.

Watching the young dragoness, one might think she was just wondering about aimlessly, weaving from side to side, skipping at random moments, and dodging around imaginary obstacles.

Jumping to the left and ducking under a low hanging rope, she spotted a tiny butterfly and quickened to a run.

The tiny insect fluttered away, Nia chasing after it, hopping and batting at it playfully when she got close.

She ran blindly after the colorful creature, losing track of where she was going.

Rounding a corner, she skidded to a halt, barely managing to stop before bumping into the dragon in front of her.

Nia had memorized everyone that lived in the town, even a few returning travelers, but this dragon was unfamiliar.

The distracted, rushed expression and unfriendly feeling they gave off took Nia by surprise.

Before she could even say anything, the dragon stepped around her and rounded the corner.

"...Sorry!" She called back, feeling awkward if she didn't say anything.

The only visual detail Nia could process in the brief encounter was the darker grey helmet that covered their face and snout.

She brushed off the strange meeting and resumed her journey, walking slowly for a short distance, gradually returning to her usual chipper walking pattern.

After a few minutes, she reached the river. She walked along the bank, watching the rippling flow and giggling at her warped reflection.

She soon came to the same red dragoness Adrec had bought salmon from earlier that day, who greeted her with a smile.

As Nia got to work, helping to drag a small net out of the water, two shadows flew up the river, unnoticed by the two dragonesses.

A ways up the river, they flew upwards, circling about in the air before turning and disappearing into the clouds.


	6. The Witch

Spyro continued on, looking up at the sky. It was surprising that he had slept through most of the morning.

He was typically an early riser, often wide awake and roaming around the city by sunrise.

Spyro smiled.

It was funny to call himself an "early riser" when Cynder almost always got up hours before the sun was even visible.

Though Cynder tried to go unnoticed each night, Spyro was often awake as well, but never quite as coherent as she was.

He would lay with his eyes closed, listening to Cynder's movement around their room, until he fell back asleep.

He didn't know exactly what Cynder **did** every morning while waiting for the sun to arrive, and was very curious to find out.

But he had other matters to tend to in the meantime, as he entered the marketplace.

It was a large area in the city, several stalls sealing anything you could imagine to one side, a few eating tables for smaller races to the other, and an eternal cluster of civilians and merchants in between.

Spyro quickly spotted a human girl seated at one of the tables.

Through observation, he noticed a cup with a spoon on the table in front of her.

What was worth noticing was that the spoon was moving of its own accord, slowly circling the rim of the cup.

Spyro didn't know much about Witches, but moving objects without even touching them certainly had to qualify as magic.

He approached the girl, not having put much thought into what he would actually say until that moment.

How exactly does one strike up conversation with a Witch?

"Uh... Hello." He spoke awkwardly, his brain already criticizing him.

It was apparent he had interrupted a deep concentration as she looked up from the cup.

As soon as she realized who had spoken she adjusted her composure, sitting up strait and smiling politely.

"Forgive me, I didn't think it would be **you** I met with." She quickly apologized.

"Hey, I'm not super formal either so don't worry." Spyro replied, returning her smile. "I also don't have a whole lot of experience with politics, so..."

"Neither do I." The girl admitted.

"Oh good, that's a lot of pressure of my shoulders." Spyro replied, "But even with formalities aside I would feel awkward not at least knowing your name."

"Bianca." She answered. "And I know who you are, of course there aren't many in the realm that don't know your name, and Cynder's."

"Yeah, still getting used to that..." Spyro admitted, sitting across from the Witch.

Just by looking at her, Spyro could tell she was very anxious.

"Volteer mentioned you had urgent matters to discuss." He said, remembering why he was there.

"Oh! Yes!" Bianca suddenly remembered the reason she had traveled to this city.

She shifted in her chair, adopting a more serious tone of voice. "Like I said, nearly everyone in the Realm knows your names. But not everyone is thankful that you two defeated the Dark Master. It's no secret that more than a few supported him, some even worshipped him."

It wasn't a surprise to Spyro that there were supporters of the Dark Master, but it only now occurred to him that some of said supporters might remain loyal even with Malefor's death.

"You see, I'm here because we've detected a troubling increase in Druid activity."

"Druid?" Spyro wondered aloud.

"Yes." Bianca answered, noticing Spyro's confused tone and realizing the term was unfamiliar to him.

"Witches focus their magic towards light, helping people, but Druids use it for personal gain. They combine their magic with combat training. Basically, if you want someone dead they can do it for a fair price."

"So pretty much, Magical Assassins?" Spyro simplified.

"More or less, yeah. I bring it up because we think some Dark Master supporters may have hired Druids to target Warfang, more than likely even you and Cynder." Bianca explained.

"That could be trouble, but thanks to your heads up we'll be expecting them. Shouldn't be too much of a problem." Spyro responded.

"That's another thing I'm supposed to bring up. We've got several spells and enchantments that could help keep Druids, and other threats out of the city." Bianca offered.

"You and the Sisters would be willing to help?" Spyro questioned.

"We would be honored to lend assistance." Bianca smiled.

"It sounds like Warfang could definitely use the help." Spyro answered, certain the Guardians would have the same response.

* * *

At the moment, the Guardians had many things to worry about.

"The formalities are flattering, but I think we all know I didn't come here because of Cyril's sweet-talking." Varsak commented sarcastically.

"I came here because you'd have to be blind to miss that something's not quite right in the Realm." He continued, looking over the map.

"For once, we agree on something." Cyril chimed in, "What with the amateur Dark Magic practitioners popping up everywhere, the Druids broadening their range of activity, and now the orcs' peculiar behavior, it's clear that something is happening, and it appears everyone but us knows exactly what it is."

"But, what?" Volteer questioned, "What could possibly be out there that could send even an army of mindless monsters on the run?"

"Exactly why I journeyed out here." Varsak replied. "Something bad enough to scare those pebble mounds is much more of a concern then a pointless squabble."

"So you'll agree to the Treaty?" Terrador asked seriously.

"Yes, even if temporarily." Varsak answered with little thought. "I'm a different dragon then I was. I have a family, a daughter to care for. There isn't a whole lot a wouldn't do to guarantee their safety."

"I can assure you, Warfang will treat you all as our own." Terrador responded.

"Appreciated." Varsak replied simply.


End file.
